Vise wrench



March 30, 1965 R. ARAKAWA 3,175,437

VISE WRENCH Filed Feb. 20, 1963 4 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR @msu/ 5 #Rn/mw@ BYHMMW ATTORN EYS March 30, 1965 R. ARAKAWA VISE WRENCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 20, 1963 mma WM m M E n u March 30, 1965 R, ARAKAWA 3,175,437

VISE WRENCH Filed Feb. 20, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENToR fPn/.w/re HRA/19u19 MMM ATTORNEYS March 30, 1965 R. ARAKAWA VISE WRENCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 20, 1963 INVENTOR RH/.fufrf /RaK/Q Am BYHmMc/W ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,175,437 VISE WRENCH Raisulre Arakavva, 1401 Haramachi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan Filed Feb. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 260,001

Claims priority, application Japan, May 22, 1962,

1 Claim. (Cl. Sil-381) The present invention relates to la vise wrench for holding and twisting of object.

In order that a wrench may exert an eflicient gripping action on an object, it is fundamentally importan-t to have one of the jaws thereof `supported yswingably by the other and said jaw pressed always in specific direc- :tion in reference to the other jaw, as seen, for instance, in a pipe wrench.

However, -a perfect operation of lthe wrench is not assured by merely swingably mounting one jaw of the Wrench. The gripping action must usually accompany some self-locking device having .a suitable link mechanism on both jaws. A vise wrench having such selflock-ing device can grip an object quickly and strongly, but a great force is usually required to release the locking mechanism. In order to overcome such inconvenience, there is often used .a supplementary lever for the release operation, but such supplementary lever is usually complicated in construction, diilioult of manufacture and `also in handling, as the lever must be provided in a limited space to be operated freely.

The present invention is directed to eliminating the above disadvantages and has for the objects to provide a vise wrench which:

(l) Operates gripping and releasing operation very easily.

(2) Does not need a supplementary handle for releasing the device and may be simple in construction and easy to manufacture and operate.

(3) Offers a small-sizedl and solid vise wrench provided with self-locking mechanism of simple construction.

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, where:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of the whole wrench.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views of the left and right sides of the wrench.

FIG. 4 shows plan views of parts when this vise wrench is disassembled.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views showing the action of the wrench, and

FIG. 7 represents a plan view of another embodiment.

The present invention will be now explained with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments.

In FIGS. 1-4, 1 is a main handle, which is provided in its middle portion with an oblong groove 2, and on the upper end of which is provided a receiving jaw 5 movable and controllable by a worm. A .lug 3 protrudes from the upper portion of the main handle. By means of a pin 4 at the end of the main handle there is supported a swingable jaw which has a hole for receiving the pin. No. 6 is an L-shaped supplementary handle having at its end a bent-olf portion, and 7, 8 and 9 are support pins on the `supplementary handle. The swingable jaw 10 has in its lower portion a slot 12 engaged by pin 8. The pin 9 engages the abovementioned oblong groove 2. P is an object to be gripped or twisted.

FIGS. 5 `and 6 are operation diagrams of the present vise wrench, each numeral corresponding to the numeral used in FIGS. l-4. Different positions of the elements are ind-icated by adding the letter a to the respective ice numeral. Dotted lines in FIG. 5 show' a sta-te before'v gripping is made and the full lines a state while gripping is made. The `full lines is FIG. 6 represent a gripping state and dotted lines operation of the self-locking mechanism shown in an enlarged scale.

The operation of the vise wrench will now be described. When main handle 1 and supplementary handle 6a are gripped simultaneously in the dotted position in FIG. 5, the supplementary handle 6a turns in the direction of the arrow and accordingly bent-off part 7a turns into the full line portion of part 7. The part 11a of the swingable jaw 10a is pushed to the right side by pin 8 in the short groove 12 at the end of the part 11, and the swingable jaw 10a revolves on the pin 4 as a center to cause a gripping of the object. In this case, the pin 9 is made to coincide with the end of the line drawn from the pin 8 to the long groove 2. Therefore, if the supplementary handle 6 is pushed further in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the pin 9 passes above the end of the .line slightly to the receiving jaw side, stops -at the upper end of the long groove 2, and causes the self-locking device to operate and the gripping operation to be accomplished.

The function of the short groove 12 :at the base of the swingable jaw 10 will be described -in the following.

If the p-in 8a of the supplementary j-aw 6a is at the lower end of the short groove 12a (in the position shown in FIG. 5), and the supplementary handle 6a is pushed in the direction of arrow, the supplementary handle 6a turns in clockwise direction about the pin 8a as a center and then the pin 9a slides up along the long groove 2 to position 9. As -a consequence, pin 8a pushes against the right hand Wall of short groove 12a and the jaw 10a will swing to 10. As the main and the supplementary handles 1, 6 are long compared with the handle portions 7, 11 (several times .as long), the pin 8a will not come close to the side of the main handle to cause turning of the bent part 7a in counterclockwise direction as lfar as the supplementary handle 6a is pushed to the side of the main handle under ordinary conditions.

Next will be described a condition when the pin 8a is positioned at the central part or at the upper part of the short groove 112e. In either case, it common that the length of the short groove may be about 1.2-l.5 times the width (nearly equal to the diameter of the pin 8), so that, if the supplementary handle 6a is subjected to a force in the direction of the arrows, lthe supplementary handle will tend to turn in clockwise direction in the same position, but after turned in slight degree of angle (in the extent of play in the mechanism), the pin 9a stops at `once at the wall of the long groove 2. The turning movement is lthen suspended; this time the bent-olf part 7a of supplementary handle turns in clockwise direction about the pin 9a as a center; the pin 8a turns slightly pushing against the right side wall of the short groove 12a, and engages the lower end of the lshort groove 12a. In the following operation, the same gripping operation is performed. The pin 8 of the supplementary handle 6 will not interfere the holding action of the swingable jaw 10 in whatever position it is in the short groove 12.

Furthe-r, as the center line 121-121 of the short groove 12 in the part 11 of the swingable jaw 10' is in parallel with the long groove 2 of the main handle 1 when the turning movement in clockwise direction of Ithe jaw 10 is made or, in other Words, when the gripping of the object is effected, it will strongly press the swingable jaw 10 so far as the pin 9 at the end of the part 7 of the supplementary handle moves up. After this the supplementary handle 6 is pushed further in the direction of the arrow to the position of the dotted lines in FIG. 6. Since the distance between 9 and 9b is extremely airs/.L37

short and the angle formed by 9b, 8b and 9, 8 under such condition is very small, said angle may be considered almost same as that formed by 8a, 4 and 8, 4. There will be no possibility that the gripping condition (self-locking condition) of theA swingable jaw 19 will be released owing to the existence of the short groove 12.

Next will be explained about the release operation of gripping (self-locking condition). FIG. 6 represents a self-locking condition of the vise wrench. When turning the supplementary handle 6b in the direction opposite to the `arrow (counterclockwise direction) against the main Vhandle 1 in case of loosening the locking condition, the short groove 12 provided at the base end 1,1 of the swingable jaw 10 will produce a special effect at the beginning of the movement. As a consequence, the release may be accomplished easily without use of a further supplementary handle. As may be understood from above description, it is usual in the gripping condition that the pin 8b is positioned always 'at the lower end of the short groove 12, so Ian explanation will be given for such position which is the standard position. In the drawing, if the supplementary handle 6b is turned oppositelyV to the arrow, the ben-t part 7b of the supplementary handle 6b turns in counterclockwise direction of the pin 9b contacting the upper end of the long groove 2 as a center, and the pin 8b engages the upper end of the short groove 12b. As the bent part 7b and the center lines 122-122 of the short groove intersect almost perpendicularly, the turning movement can be accomplished very easily. After the pin 8b contacts the upper end of the short groove 12b the supplementary handle 6b is turned oppositely to the arrow and the same handle is turned with that point as a center, as the bent part 7b andl the long groove 2 intersect :almost perpendicularly, and accordingly, the release operation can be made without difiicu'lty.

FIG. 7 represents another embodiment of the present invention, which is a sto-called hand vise.

Into the upper end of handle, is screwed a control screwV rod 31 movable to the left and right hands by a screw; said control screw rod 31 has a tipI 32 on the left, end and a gripping piece 33 on the right end -to be fixed with a nut 34. 35 is a protrusion on the top end of the main handle 1; the pin 4 at the end of the central part of the swingable jaw 10 engages a hole in the protrusion. No. 6 is again an Lshaped supplementary handle, 7 its bent part, and 8 'and 9 are support pins on the supplementary handle. No. ll is the lower part of the swingable jaw 10, at the end of which is provided a short groove quite same as in the vise wrench.

The operation of the above embodiment is also same as that of the vise wrench: if the supplementary handle 6 and main handle 1 are grasped at the same. time, the swingable jaw 10 turns to the left hand about the pin 4 as a center thereby performing a gripping operation of the object, For releasing the device, it is suihcient to open the supplementary handle 6 to the right hand in reference to the main handle 1.

What l claim is:

A self-locking vise wrench comprising a fixed handle, a receiving jaw supported by the handle, said handle having a long lengthwise recess adjacent said jaw, a swingable jaw mounting in its middle part a pin pivotally engaged with said fixed handle to support an upper part of the swingable jaw in coacting relationship with the receiving jaw for gripping an `object between the jaws, said swingable jaw having a short lengthwise recess in its lower part, said recesses being substantially parallel to each other, and a swingable handle having a laterally extending arm on one end, said arm mounting a rst pin at its outer end and `a second pin at its junction with the main portion of the swingable handle, said irst pin engaging the long recess in the fixed handle and said second pin the short recess in the swingable jaw, whereby the recess in the swingable jaw moves in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the recess in the fixed handle when the swingable handle is piv-oted in reference to the xed handle and the first p-in on the arm changes its position toward the receiving jaw in `reference to a line connecting the second pin on said arm :and lthe lower end of said long 'recess in the fixed handle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,874,944 8/32 FabianV 55h-381 X 2,362,707 11/44 Malmquist 81-381 X 2,445,480 7/48 Gantt 81--332 2,704,476 3/55 Lisota 81-382 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examinez', 

